# Asian Games selection faces scrutiny after judoka’s exclusion 2026-08-26T07:55:03+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet (2 source reports) Asian Games: CWG gold medallist judoka Harsh Singh says he is hurt and dejected after being left out of the Indian squad despite his Glasgow triumph. The 23-year-old, India's first male judoka to win a Commonwealth gold, did not meet the selection criteria requiring a top-six finish among Asian nations at international events or the Asian Championships. At the Asian Championships in April, he lost in the first round to Olympic silver medallist Yang Yung-wei. SAI's criteria allowed a relaxation clause for justifiable reasons recommended by the concerned federation. Harsh said the federation told him his name was among 13 submitted but it could not help further. He is now focusing on the Lausanne Grand Slam. Separately, selection questions have also been raised over gymnastics, kurash and karate squads. Gymnast Protistha Samanta, who earned a nominative quota and had India's best Commonwealth result, and others were not considered, despite the same criteria possibly applying. ## Indian Opinion Analysis This story has two distinct narratives. The first focuses on Harsh Singh's personal disappointment and detailed backstory, a classic human-interest frame that personalises the selection pain. The second is a systemic critique, widening the lens to gymnastics, kurash, and karate, and highlighting apparent inconsistencies in the criteria's application, such as the case of gymnast Protistha Samanta. The pro-government reading would argue the published criteria were followed, the critical framing says the framework was applied unevenly. The balanced view is that while Harsh Singh's case is explained by the published criteria, the other sports' selections lack transparent justification. The IOA and ministry must now clarify why nominative quotas in gymnastics were ignored, and why kurash and karate teams were revived without a stated performance benchmark. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 government-critical - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (government critical) Opens with emotional quote from excluded athlete, details personal struggle and confusion over process - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2) (government critical) Systemic critique across multiple sports naming inconsistent criteria application This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-09-27T06:22:30+00:00. Tags: Asian Games 2026, Commonwealth Games, Harsh Singh, Indian Army, Indian judo team, SAI Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/cwg-gold-medallist-judoka-harsh-singh-misses-asian-games-rues-snub/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/cwg-gold-medallist-judoka-harsh-singh-misses-asian-games-rues-snub/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/